


Finally

by chaosys



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Lily Evans Potter, F/M, Gen, Reptilia28's Don't Fear the Reaper Challenge, arguably dark!Lily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27737542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaosys/pseuds/chaosys
Summary: Death is tired of Harry failing to do anything he's fated to do in his life, and sends him back to the beginning to maybe, just maybe,finallyget it right.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Kudos: 41





	Finally

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little plot-bunny that snuck up on me, based on Reptilia28's Don't Fear the Reaper challenge from back in the day. I also wanted to see just how short I could make this.
> 
> THE ORIGINAL CHALLENGE:  
> Harry is killed at 17 during the fight with Voldemort. He's sent to his Death's office (explained later) and finds out that this isn't the first time that this has happened.
> 
> Harry's Death (who can have a human name) is mad at his arrival. Apparently, people dying before their time is a black mark on the various Deaths' records, and Harry is getting perilously close to getting this particular one fired.
> 
> When Harry asks what was supposed to have happened, Death goes off on a rant saying how he was supposed to have killed Voldemort, found his soulmate ("Some Granger girl…") and lived to be a centennial age. But since Harry keeps getting into life-threatening situations for one reason or another, he keeps dying before that happens. Harry is surprised about the soul mate part.  
> Death gives Harry a paper to sign that allows him to retain his memories (the previous times, he wasn't given this option for some reason). Harry is deposited to a previous time of the writer's choosing.  
> Eventually, Harry gets it right. He kills Voldemort, gets the girl, and lives to a ripe old age of whatever. And Death doesn't get fired.
> 
> REQUIREMENTS:  
> Harry must have died at least three times before this one. The memory keeping contract must be included. Death must refer to Hermione as "some Granger girl" when Harry's soul mate turns up in his rant. Obviously, must at least be Harmony.
> 
> OPTIONAL: Dumbledore's manipulations can be a factor in Harry's premature demises.

"Ugh. You're dead  _ again!? _ "

"What do you mean,  _ again? _ "

"Harry, this is your 99th time here. You're supposed to defeat that tosser Tom Riddle, hook up with your soul-mate -- some Granger girl -- and live into your hundreds. And in all 99 of those past lives, you've never done a single one of those things! You're going to get me fired at this rate."

"Wait,  _ Hermione? _ Whatever, not the point. How am I supposed to know any of this? It's not like I can remember!"

"... Fair. Okay, fine, how about this? I'll send you back to before your parents went under the  _ Fidelius, _ with just enough memory to use accidental magic to tear Pettigrew's sleeve off, exposing him as a Death Eater, that whole chain of events gets derailed, and that  _ terrifying _ mother of yours gets the chance to end the war  _ her _ way."

"... Worth a shot."

"Great! Sign here."

* * *

"Unca Wormy! Up!"

A nervous Peter Pettigrew tried to back away from the  _ very _ determined toddler. "Sorry, Prongslet. Uncle Wormy has to be part of a spell right now."

"Up!" The just-over-a-year-old Harry insisted, stamping his foot.

"But-"

Harry reached out to tug on Peter's sleeve, but Peter yanked it away. There was a flash, a tear, and Peter's sleeve crumpled to the floor, exposing the Dark Mark for all to see. Everyone in the room froze for a heartbeat, and then a spread of stunners all hit Peter at once.

Harry giggled as his mother swooped in and picked him up. She glared at James and Sirius. "See? I  _ told _ you this was a bad idea!"

Sirius and James just stood there, gaping like particularly stunned fish.

Lily settled back onto the sofa, cuddling Harry. She waved her wand, divesting Pettigrew of his wand, two portkeys, various potions, and most of his clothing. Pettigrew's stunned self was encased in a foot-thick bullet-proof glass box, with air holes in the top. "Now then," she leveled a glare around the room. "We're doing this  _ my _ way. Sirius, you're going into hiding too. You and James will be secret-keepers for each other, and  _ no one else _ gets the secret.  _ Got it? _ "

The two nodded, dumb-struck.

* * *

Lily, having cast the  _ Fidelius _ for both the Potter cottage and Sirius' cottage next door, settled in for a marathon research session in the lab she'd set up in her old Hogwarts trunk. While she was wary of leaving Harry to the care of the two Marauders, she consoled herself with knowing that the two had been showing more caution about everything after Pettigrew's betrayal was revealed.

The months passed, and Lily's plan came together piece by piece. She devoured books by the shelf -- blood magic, soul magic, scry targeting, battle rituals, necromancy, and the deep lore on dementors, to name but a few. Her lab was warded to only admit one of her own blood, because she knew from past experience that the Marauders -- or at least James and Sirius -- got up in arms about anything which could be considered Dark. Aside from Remus' furry little problem, at any rate.

Her paired journals with Albus and Severus had needed to be replaced six times before the plan was ready. Between the three of them, they'd crafted a terrifying masterpiece, a ritual which would strike at the very soul of its target from anywhere in the world. They'd all taken an Unbreakable Oath to bury the knowledge for use only in the most dire of needs.

Finally, the Summer Solstice of 1982 arrived, the ritual was enacted, and as the sun rose on the longest day of the year, an exhausted Lily and James went to sleep. At the same time, screams rose unheard from various out-of-the-way places around Britain, and faded away to nothing.

A month or so later, Lily took Harry aside. "You're going to be a big brother soon!"

* * *

Death grinned as one Tom Riddle sat in front of the desk, fuming. 

_ Finally. _


End file.
